Digitalization of STL suite - automating panel transmission loss calculation - from CAD to analysis in minutes

Sound transmission loss (STL) through panels is an important metric that is used in design and material selection. This becomes paramount when the panels separate the noise sources (like engines, motors, tires, ...) from the occupants . An automotive fire-wall, floor and wheel-well are common examples. In real world these panels are fitted in a window that separates two acoustic rooms. Sound is impinged on the panel from one room and measured in the other room. The difference in the sound power between the two sides of the panel is the transmission loss. For the past two decades, this vibro-acoustic process is being simulated using finite element techniques. These methods have evolved enough and correlate well with measurement. The turn-around computation time has improved significantly due to the availability of cloud computing. However, the model build time being manual takes 4-8 hours depending on the complexity and quality of geometry. In this paper, the authors show the best practices to predict the STL correctly and also show the power of automation in reducing this model build time, while capturing these practices.